Mysterious
by sweetlilsunshine
Summary: A new life is found hushed in the shadows of the forest outside of the Cullens home. She is bewildering, with no connections and no way to have arrived seconds from birth. A child who knows little of who she is will soon find that the past follows you.
1. Chapter 1

_**a/n: This is a remake of a story I have done before, "A Tale of Mysteries". I realize that I was young when I wrote this so please bear with me, thank you for your patience and I hope you like this new version!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Twilight copyrights.**_

_She was screaming, mother was screaming, the very tone of her voice alerting us to her pain. Somewhere besides me the other shifted; his movements restless, uncomfortable and nervous. He did not like the sound, it scared him. I kicked out at him, if only as a warning. He could not move for there was no room, he would hurt mother. The warnings did no use; the other panicked at my kicks and delivered his own. We both felt the movement as our mother fell; we both heard her cries get louder with pain. The other kept kicking, he was terrified, he did not know what to do. I too felt the terror but did not kick. I curled my form to its smallest size, giving him room, giving him the space to stop. _

"_Ora," Our mother said, saying the name she had given us. "Please. . ." She paused here, her breath coming more ragged. "Please Stop."_

_I was overwhelmed with my need to escape, an urge that came so suddenly that I did not know from where it came. Every nerve in my body screamed at me to become smaller, to shrink down, to vanish. Almost like a visible link, a certain force seemed to connect to me, gently pulling and tugging at my every limb. It scared me, for I knew that this pull wanted to take me, to fulfill my need. _

_The other did not like the pull; he kicked out even harder than before, trying to dig his own way away from it. Our mother screamed anew as she felt his panic, snapping bones and tearing tissue mingled in her cries. The sounds seemed to ring throughout me, filling my every pore with the sickening echo of her shattered ribs. The mere horror brought the pull back with such force that I felt the tug in every fiber of my being. Gradually my resolve to stay slipped, and just like that, I slipped with it. I felt a rush unlike any other take over me as my one physical tie torn in too. All sounds faded into the dark and I knew I was gone._

oOoOoOoOoOo

How I came to see, I do not know. All that I know is that the embracing, fluid darkness was gone. In its place was something different, stranger, _lighter_ than it had ever been. It swam above my head, illuminating the willowing objects around me in one grand sweep; it tickled my chin with its invisible fingers, making the objects dance and wave in its breeze. It made me want to do something truly odd, to. . . to cry? No, that was not it. . . _Laugh_, my mind told me in a sudden realization, _you want to laugh._

And I did, or at least I tried. The first giggle that left my lips was strangled; almost not a sound at all, but the second did produce results. I gagged, choked and coughed as a thick sludge gurgled out and trickled down my chin, leaving in its wake only my quick, hurried breaths. Confused I slowly raised my fingers to my face, touching the sticky liquid.

My breathing flickered and stopped; surprised by the sudden feeling of familiarity. It was like the darkness was still there, smaller yes but still just as heavy, just as thick. I held part of the gooey mess up to my cheek, feeling it smear as I nudged it. A different, darker fluid dribbled down my arms and splashed upon my face, staining snow white a dark, crimson red. Bewildered, I touched this too, only to find it different than the fluid darkness. It still smelled of mother but it did something strange to me also. Like a mini-fire, a deep seeded burning roared to life within my throat, making me want to drip the liquid into my mouth, to taste it soothing the fire.

Stiffly I tried to bring some to me, only to fail. When I tried again, the results were the same. No matter how I tried to do it, the act always thwarted me in the end. It would drip through my fingers or refused to be picked up by them at all, either way it frustrated me. Tears pricked in my eyes and an overwhelming urge similar to before took me, only this time it was not laughing that I wanted to accomplish.

Clear of any kind of debris, the wail I emitted was much louder than the giggle had been. It lasted longer too, by the time I had finished I was breathing again, making up for the lost amount of air. Exhausted, I lay completely still on the ground, my breath my only movement. As I began to calm down a deep peaceful feeling descended on me, causing my eyelids to grow heavy and flicker. Yawning, I let the breeze and the warmth of the fluid darkness lull me to sleep.

OOoOoOoOoOo

There had been no signs of life since my arrival in this strange place, the only exception being the tiny heartbeats of the miniscule creatures cowering in my presence. All other beasts had fled. Thus, the sound that woke me was not only terrifying, but startling as well.

It was a feral sound, somewhere between a screech and a roar. It rang throughout the trees, rocketed through my very being. It contained such a raw tone of hunger that I felt my breath spike anew and my body shiver and, when it happened again, practically shaking with fright. I listened intently as the screaming noise cut off abruptly, silence rushing in its wake.

Gradually new, quieter sounds came to me through the void. They were soft, repetitive and padded, almost so distant that they barely reached my ears. I knew what they were though, knew almost as soon as I stopped to ponder the question. _Footsteps_, my mind instantly supplied, recognizing the concept from my memories; a memory that was taken from when I was with mother, a time when movement was felt as well as heard.

More of the steps accompanied the first as they slowly brought their bearers closer to me. They spoke none at all after that screech came to me, no sound of voices whispering in my ears. This frightened me; if they meant no harm than they would speak; alert me to their presence. As I heard them give their last movement outside the clearing, their last move before I would be revealed to them, I too tried to move myself. I tried and failed, not even able to scoot from where I lay. I heard them slip into where they could see me, leaving me unable to lift my head and do likewise. A distressed whimper rose out of me before I could stop its ascent.

I was not ready for this.


	2. Chapter 2

_**a/n: I know it's been a while since my last chapter. Honestly I wasn't expecting to write on it again, seeing as my last chapter had no reviews. I reread it though and decided to continue anyway, I liked the story after all, so I figured someone else might come to like it too. Btw, I'm going to update all my stories as a kind of test and delete all the ones that don't get reviews. So if you like them, don't forget to review.**_

_**D: I do not own any Twilight copyrights.  
**_

I could hear them approaching me from within the strange objects that swayed and waved. The moment they left the sanctuary of these things, the sounds around them seemed to magnify. It was as if they had been muted, these footsteps that sounded now so loud to my fragile ears. There were other sounds too; great, thundering noises that I barely recognized as heartbeats. The wet sound brought the same burning to my throat as before, only this time it was easier to ignore. There was something more interesting to these sounds then the mere fact that they insisted the burning ache I had already felt once before. It had much more to do with how they _smelled_ actually.

It was the thick smell of a beast, though not entirely unpleasant, that caught my attention. The other animals of this forest had avoided me, cowered at my presence, but these creatures seemed to have sought me out. A sudden shiver of fear rolled through me as I listened to them for a moment, leaving me blinking in surprise. Was I afraid of these things? Why?

"A baby? Where did it come from?" The speaker sounded feminine, much like mother had sounded when she had spoken to us.

This voice was prettier, but not gentler; it was clear the speaker was not addressing her. Were there others then? Or were the creatures she had heard capable of speech. No more hearts pounded through the silence, save for a soft, fluttering one much like my own.

"I don't know, Nessie said Jacob and her were hunting; he was smelling for prey and then he just stopped. According to her the scent just appeared in the air, she said it wasn't there not even a moment before." This voice was gruffer but no less beautiful. As the words were spoken, a pair of light footsteps seemed to bring something closer to me. I tried to shy away but my body seemed to fail to move me very far.

A head swung into my line of sight, blocking the light filtering from above and making it hard to see any thing other than the dark outline of its figure. I had barely squinted before I suddenly found icy hands lifting me into the air, my view changing so fast, I felt a sort of dizziness edge into me. The barest of whimpers left my lips at the unexpected movement but I did not make any more sound than that. It was becoming clear to me that I could see much more than I had been able to before. Figures I had only been able to guess at before swam before my eyes.

The clearest of them all belonged to the one that had picked me up; he was holding me so that I faced towards him. Golden eyes seemed to smile at me from under a head of light colored hair, gentle lips mirrored the kind expression; he was pretty I realized, surprising me though I did not know why. What was he? I wondered, he did not seem to be like the humans our mother had mentioned in her many whispered words to us. She had once mentioned something called a _vampire_ once also, and though she hadn't been speaking to us when she had said that, she had called them beautiful. Could this being be one of those?

One of the other beings, the one closest to the one who held me, suddenly arched his eyebrows as if surprised. He turned to yet another being and started whispering quietly, so quietly that I wondered if he was purposefully trying to make it so that I could not hear. This confused me, had something strange happened? Did it involve me?

From my perch I looked around and though I could see many things, including what I had rightly guessed to be beasts lined up off to the side; there was nothing besides the beings themselves that was unusual.

"Your mother knew about vampires?" The whisperer had stopped talking to his friend and turned to me. A crown of a sort of reddish colored hair covered his head, it was much darker than that of my holder and drew my interest for a few seconds before the meaning of his words truly sunk in. I blinked a few times, looking at him and wondering if I had heard right. He knew of my mother? No there was more than that, he knew my mother had known about vampires. How had he known that? Who were these people?

"She did?" Someone else called from further back, this one also in possession of blonde hair, though it was longer and framed a feminine form. "The father stuck around then? Does that mean they could possibly still be here?" She turned her head like she expected someone to be standing behind her. One of the beasts near her snorted as if laughing.

"We would have smelled him, don'tcha think Rose," One of the thicker ones said cheekily, though his chuckles died a bit when she shot him an evil glare."I mean in _theory_." He amended sheepishly, "I guess they _could_ get past us. . ."

Yet again one of the beasts made an almost intelligent sounding huff, the red head nodded thoughtfully. "Sam has made a very valid point," He stated loud enough for all to hear, "Even if these other vampires weren't in our territory for long, the wolves would have sensed them cross through _their_ territories." He was silent for another moment before continuing, "Plus it's difficult to think we wouldn't smell the birth when it was happening."

"True, I find it much more likely that she came here on her own. Though I admit that sounds impossible." My captor had deemed it ready to speak at last, leaving me with the sudden realization that he had been the first one to speak anything of real importance. Interesting, the others had allowed him to analyze the situation before they themselves gave it a try. Was he a sort of leader to them then?

"It's amazing what she understands Carlisle," The one who had asked about my mother before leaned closer to me as if he wanted to get a better look. "She's just as smart as Renesmee was, if only a bit more cynical in the way she thinks."

"Could you translate a bit Edward?" My holder, Carlisle, asked eagerly, "You mentioned she knew about us earlier? What else does she know I wonder?" He appeared to be deep in thought, "Maybe enough to tell us of her past perhaps."

How would he know what I did though? Once again I felt confused, as far as I knew I had yet to posses the ability to talk. All the sounds I had made so far did little to represent speech.

"It's not like that," The one called Edward said suddenly, and I got the feeling that it was me he was addressing this time. "Some of us have special abilities, me included." He smiled a knowing smile, "I read minds actually."

I thought for a moment, reads minds? Does that mean that while I seem incapable of normal communication; this Edward can understand me? He nodded, showing me that he had indeed heard my question. I thought back to what the one called Carlisle had said previously, asking Edward translate what I know. There was really no harm in it really, I decided after more moments of contemplation. Besides, perhaps they would have a place for me to stay if I gave them answers, I was getting bored of being held and my eyelids were beginning to droop.

_'Ok', _I thought, trying to dictate my thoughts directly at him, _'What do you want to know?'_


	3. Chapter 3

_**a/n: Thanks so much for all the review everybody, I really appreciate them. Because of you guys this story has now officially been taken off of death row. Don't take it as your cue not to review though, I still want to hear from you guys.**_

_**D: I do not own any Twilight copyrights.**_

When I was within the darkness with the other, I had been close to mother. Never had I laid eyes upon her features but I did not mind; I had not known of sight then anyway. I knew her through her voice, through the stories that would sink through her to us and speak of all the wonders of her world.

It had been a peaceful existence, one with only mother and us. "_Ora", _she would call as the movements of her hand shook our prison gently, "_Do you want to hear another story?"_ Always I would give her a sign to show my agreement, gentle little nudges to tell her that yes, I did. The other wasn't so gentle, though it was hardly his fault. I do not know if he recognized my presence as I did him, all I know is that in his bouts of easy excitement he grew far too restless and often resulted in mothers pained moans.

Still in her pain mother would tell us our story, chiding in her gentle voice, "_Are you excited little one? That's ok but please calm down a bit, mommy needs a rest." _I wonder if she knew that there were two who heard her words, two that she called 'Ora'. She continued to call us that until that last moment that seemed like it had happened both minutes and decades ago; till the moment when there had been no more room. "_Ora, Please. . ." _She had paused here, her breath ragged, _"Please Stop."_

I felt my thoughts grow slightly more bitter at this memory and I knew this Edward had sensed the change, for his translation seemed a bit hesitant at that particular point. _I_ had stopped, _he_ had been the one who hurt her, that is when I had tried to quiet him, when I had lashed out to get his panicked kicking to stop. It had not worked, I remember clearly how he had only kicked out at our mother all the harder.

The next part of my tale was a little fuzzy, and I vaguely heard my translator tell our audience this as I tried to remember the details. It had been like my panic had become tangible. I had wanted to escape badly, to give the other room to stop, give him the chance to stop hurting her. That is when mother had started to scream under his blows; when the action suddenly became finalized for me. There had been a moment of pain as something attached to my being snapped, a horrible suffocating darkness, and then I had awoken to my first ever vision of light.

The red head finished translating, giving me a quick look as if to confirm the ending of my tale. _It is,_ I silently told him, rather liking this means of communication; it was rather easier than anything else I had come across after all.

"She can't think of any more," This Edward finished, turning to the one named Carlisle, "She can't remember any sort of birth, nor any form of travel that would cause her to turn up here."

"That's kind of stupid, don't'cha think Edd?" The gruff looking one who had spoken earlier said, looking puzzled. "I know she looks pretty gruesome but what did she do, let _herself _out of the womb?"

_Gruesome_? I inwardly questioned, did I look unappealing somehow. To the best of my ability, I raised my small arm slowly, trying to figure out the motive behind his words. Was the intoxicating liquid the cause maybe, it's red tendrils now drying in clumps upon my skin.

"Maybe she has a power Emmet, or her twin did," The vampire to who Edward had been speaking to earlier suddenly voiced, her long dark hair swaying as she stepped forward to place her hand upon the mind reader's forearm. "Renesmee has a power too,and it doesn't seem to be all that uncommon to those like them, from what we know anyway."

One of the beasts made the scoffing bark that one of the other ones had made earlier. Edward gave it a curt nod and then turned to address the others. "Leah thinks she could be lying, she says that we have never heard of these. . ." he coughed here as if in embarrassment, "er. . . _halfbreeds_ being born as twins before."

The blond female in the back seemed to take personal offense to this comment, "_Lying_?" She scoffed, "She's a baby! What's she going to do, plot a scheme against us from her cradle?" She shot the grayish animal a dirty look, suddenly marching over to where I sat in their leader's arms, hardly registering his surprise before she yanked me away from him.

I blinked as her gorgeous face became a lot closer than it had been previously. Her harsh expression seemed to melt as she looked down at me, shifting so that I was held in a sort of snug embrace. "Look at her, she looks exhausted. Strange appearance or not, we should just take her back to the house already. We can go philosophical _after_ she gets a rest and a warm bath."

Another female with reddish brown hair stepped away from the others almost cautiously. She till seemed rather wary as she approached me and bent down to my level. "Rose is right, we've been cruel," She almost touched me but the strange red stuff seemed to prevent her from doing so, making me wonder if _that_ was why they were all keeping me at arms length. The one they called Rose had quit breathing the moment I had entered her arms.

"Are you sure we should bring her back Rose?" Carlisle asked with the same wary hint to his voice. "A house full of vampires might not be so safe to bring one covered in blood."

"We can handle it, you know." Edward's friend cut in, walking over to the beasts and pulling what looked like a small figure from its back; "With Jasper away with Alice to the new house, we don't have any left who can't control it."

Edward looked at her and the small figure for a long moment, like he was seeing something that the rest of them couldn't. I don't know if he said something to them however, his voice had become quiet and I was beginning to become to tired to care; Rosalie's rhythmic rocking was_ very_ soothing. "See," The blond vampire piped again, "She's _tired_, and Bella's right, we can talk later."

Their leader sighed, sensing that he had become outnumbered and giving them all a weary nod. "She get's a bath _before_ any naps though, we're not risking anything."

With a sudden rush, the one called Rosalie burst out with amazing speed. She, it seems, had been only held back by his apparent uncertainty. Now that his approval was given, she was going before he had a chance to change his mind.

"You'll like our home," She told me tenderly, snuggling me into her chest. "I can already tell you'll like it." She murmured dreamily."The newest addition to our little home." I couldn't quite tell if that was her wish for the future or not.

Perhaps it was a solid fact.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/n: um. . . well I'm sorry it took so long to update. A lot has happened recently so I'm just getting back in the habit of updating regularly. Anyway, hope you all read and review anyway, I promise it will still be a good chapter.**_

_**D: I do not own any Twilight copyrights.**_

Rosalie was already in the bathroom when the others arrived, humming quietly to herself as she washed the sleepy babe. Her eyes sparkled with growing love, and her usual spitfire temper seemed to dim as she handled the girl with the utmost care.

Her family didn't even blink at her sudden change. They were well aware that at the moment they were watching her live her greatest desire. Perhaps that was why all the Cullens now found it difficult to interfere in her happiness.

"Rose," Emmet began slowly, approaching his love cautiously as he prepared to tell her what he knew she would not want to hear, "We know she's young but what if her father comes looking? Keeping a baby is a little different than keeping a stray." He chuckled weekly as several of the pack members behind him huffed half-heartedly at his subtle comment.

Her eyes snapped onto his with a severity he had never before seen of her; their midnight hue only dimming when her mate winced slightly at the intensity. "She needs a home," The blond remarked curtly, her jaw already setting into its familiar stubborn set. "Would you have agreed with leaving her in the woods?"

The large man's throat closed up and he realized he didn't know what to say. Of course he didn't want that; but what would happen to Rosalie if her hopes were ripped away? Above all, _that _is what would break him. Carlisle stepped forward and for once Emmet humbled himself enough to let him take the stand; silently thanking his father figure for sparing him from what he knew would be a difficult answer.

"We don't want that Rosalie," The blond man stated softly, sincerity practically radiating from his form, "None of us want to abandon her, and I don't think Emmet meant it that way." Emmet nodded as his name was mentioned, wanting his wife to know that this was true, but did not interrupt as Carlisle continued. "We just want to know you will be able to handle what may come. Even though she was alone today don't assume she won't be looked for."

For once Rose seemed to take a moment to think, her hand still rythmetically rubbing the baby now asleep in the bath. Finally she reached in and lifted the pale figure onto a clean towel, smiling faintly as her fingers brushed the tuffs of jet black hair. Only when she was finished did the woman turn to face her family, "Your right," She whispered, barely audible even to the vampire ears. "I will not rip a child away from her parents if they come." Her eyes fell and she rubbed her arm absentmindedly, a habit they knew she only practiced to still seem human. She sighed and this time her eyes wandered back to the child with barely suppressed want.

"I wouldn't want it to happen to me."

oOoOoOoOo

I had barely awoken when a completely different vampire dashed into the room, a gigantic piece of metal thrown haphazardly over one shoulder. The conversation did not stop entirely; as I'm sure it would have if she was a stranger, though a few sets of eyes looked confused as they took in the fact that she was alone. I wonder if they were used to her having a companion.

Ignoring the surprise she caused, the pixyish vampire smiled widely at the sight of me wrapped in blankets on the one called Rose's lap. She squealed happily as the metal fell to the floor with a dull 'thud', wasting no time in dashing over for a closer view. I blinked in surprise as her pretty face was magnified within seconds. _What is this?_ I thought towards Edward, sitting next to a girl child and the brown haired female from earlier, _There are more of you?_

"She's adorable!" The small woman chirped, sweeping me out of Rosalie's arm before I could even protest. "I couldn't believe it when Edward called and told me what happened," She told them all with a little laugh, still embracing me in a gentle hug, "Poor thing, naked and filthy in the woods." She shook her head sadly and pulled out what looked to be a tiny silk dress, smiling widely as she held it up where I could see it. "That's why I brought this!"

"Alice," Edward cautioned simply as he rose and approached us, "She's not a mindless doll, explain what you mean to do before you do it." He turned to me with a weary smile. "And yes, there are more of us.

"It's not a big deal, just a dress I picked it up at Bella's house." Alice countered simply as she began to shimmy me into the material. Her family all sprouted knowing smirks when she ignored Edward's words pointedly, but the little pixie took next to no notice. I wondered briefly if this was what they considered normal for her and almost smiled when Edward nodded wearily. "That's where we went when Jasper couldn't take the smell anymore." She explained brightly; though at the mention what had to be another vampire, Alice's bright smile shrunk into a worried frown.

"Where is Jasper?" Edward asked; worry creasing his face as well. "Is he still afraid the blood will overwhelm him?"

Alice nodded and sighed, tapping her head with a _'he never listens' _expression on her face. "I told him nothing would happen," She said with a frustrated pout, "He just told me to go and said he would '_wait it out.'_" She accompanied her speech with an eye roll and strange opening and closing motions with her fingers.

"He's still new to our lifestyle Alice," Carlisle soothed, coming up behind the smaller girl and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Give him time and he will learn to resist." He smiled as she nodded sullenly, giving him the opportunity to rescue me from her arms and push her gently towards the door. "Go get him and tell him it's safe now, Rose cleaned her earlier so there should be nothing for him to worry about."

Alice sighed and nodded, giving their blond leader a grateful smile before dashing out the door. She shouted a: "Be right back!" over her shoulder and was gone.

Suddenly a loud crash echoed from behind us and effectively shattered the silence that had been building around the vampires' brief conversation. As if of one mind, all who were standing turned to see the one who had been holding me earlier, Rose, closely inspecting the metal thing that Alice had dropped in the center of the floor. It was badly dented and crushed, but she seemed determined to turn it back to its old form with several well placed hits and loud crashes.

"Is that what I think it is?" Edward's woman asked with amazement as she peered closely at the mangled mass of metal. "What _happened_ to it? It looks like it was hit with a bus!"

_What is it?_ I mentally asked Edward the mind reader, curiosity beginning to rage through me. What was the thing originally that had this vampire so amazed? Once I had heard mother speak of large weapons that humans had built to be indestructible, moving things that she had called _tanks._ Could this be one of those?

Edward laughed at my assumption and shook his head with amusement, "No it's nothing like that," He assured me, chuckling a little more as he read my disappointment. "Just a crib, or at least what _used_ to be a crib."

Before I could ask him exactly what a _crib_ was, a dark skinned man stepped forward and rubbed his head sheepishly. He was so obviously _not _a vampire that I couldn't help but compare him to the beasts I had seen earlier. My eyes widening with wonder as on closer observation I saw several more figures similar to his waiting patiently the background, each one with the same animalistic hearts I had heard from the forest. Interesting.

Edward still standing close enough to Carlisle for me to see his face, rose an eyebrow in what had to be a response to my thoughts. If he was going to clarify on what he found so intriguing however, he didn't have a chance before the dark man spoke.

"Well about that Bella. . ." He began with a hesitant smile, "I uh. . . sort of smashed it with Nessie as a um. . . _celebration_ for her not needing it anymore." He gave another sheepish smile and backed away quickly from where the one he had called Bella silently stood, agape and fuming.

"_YOU DID WHAT?"_


End file.
